Artur Davis: Obama Not an 'Effective' Leader

Former Alabama congressman Artur Davis says he deserted the Democratic Party to become a Republican because he’s disappointed “that the promise of fours years ago” from President Barack Obama hasn’t been realized.

Speaking Monday night on Fox News’ “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren,” Davis, who was one the first black lawmakers to endorse Obama in 2008, said he plans to vote for Mitt Romney in November.

“We have a left party and a right party in this country today, ideologically speaking,” he said. “As I surveyed issues in the last several years I found myself aligning more with the Republicans than with Democrats.”

Davis, who left Congress to run unsuccessfully as a Democrat for governor of Alabama, announced last week that he was switching his party affiliation because he had broken too many times with the president and his Democratic colleagues on the issues.

For example, he was the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus to vote against Obamacare, which he suggested was rammed through Congress with little compromise or negotiation.

Davis said he blames the president for a lot of the “intransigence” in Congress today and questions his ability as an “effective” leader.

“People often say you can’t blame the president for that. What I often point out to people is presidents routinely faces intransigence on the other side,” Davis told Van Susteren. “The really effective leaders figure out how to overcome that. They figure out how to go the other side and say, ‘Tell me what you want. Tell me what is important to you.’ And they figure out how to take some of the values and get them to good public policy.”

“You don’t get it with President Obama?” Van Susteren asked.

“I haven't seen it on so many issues time after time,” Davis replied. “I saw a healthcare law, which I voted against as a Democrat, passed on an aggressive party line, my way or the highway, take it or leave it strategy by the Democrats in Congress.”

“I haven't seen the kind of outreach necessary to move the country,” he added.

Davis said he believes more and more Americans are moving away from the president for that reason and toward Romney and the Republican Party.

“I’m disappointed that the promise of four years ago wasn’t realized,” he said.